Braddon by-election

Braddon

In Saturday's Braddon by-election you have the power to stop Malcolm Turnbull's savage school funding cuts.

If his cuts go ahead, Braddon schools will miss out on millions in funding.

That extra funding was intended to cut class sizes, bring in specialist literacy and numeracy teachers, and give more one-on-one support to children falling behind. Instead, Turnbull is giving $17 billion to the big banks.

The Turnbull Government cut millions in funding from public schools in the Braddon electorate in 2018 and 2019. They cut $1.9 billion from public schools across Australia.

So vote for your children's sake on July 28.

Teach Turnbull a lesson. Don't support his cuts to our schools.

Background to the cuts

2018 should have been a year of celebration for our schools. The start of the biggest investment in schools in decades. Needs-based funding started in 2014 after the independent “Gonski review” warned too many children were missing out due to lack of resources. These reforms were delivering:

Smaller class sizes.

More specialist teachers in areas such as literacy and numeracy.

More help for students with disabilities or behavioural problems.

And those in danger of dropping out.

Schools are missing out on billions that should have been delivered this year and next year. In five states and territories that money was set out in signed agreements. The Parliamentary Budget Office said public schools are $1.9 billion worse off under the Turnbull plan than the arrangements that were previously in place.

The children worst affected by the cuts are the ones with the highest needs.

What we want is needs-based funding that ensures all schools can meet the agreed school resource standard. But the Turnbull Government legislated to cap Commonwealth funding to public schools at 20% of what they need to reach the minimum schooling resource standard. The Commonwealth will fund private schools to 80% of schooling resource standard. Some of the biggest increases in funding go to the schools that need it least. That isn’t fair and it certainly isn’t needs-based funding.

Disability funding has been cut. And the Turnbull plan will leave almost 9 out of 10 public schools still below the national resource standard in 2023.

Private schools retain a $1.9 billion capital fund alongside their recurrent funding, but public schools get no Commonwealth capital funding to help public schools build new classrooms and facilities to cope with growing enrolments.

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